Stratton Street, Feb^y. 21. 1786

My dear Sir

I should have written to you upon my first coming to town, but for a reason that I will give, before I send this letter.

I will desire you to give Moses very many thanks for his most acceptable present of the Virgula Divinatoria, which I have been in vain hunting for a print of, and which I remember to have seen in some weekly publication. In case you add any drawings to the welsh Tour, or journey to London, I shall be very desirous to have copies, on thin paper, to paste upon the Margins of my Books. I have talk'd with Storer, relative to Catherine Cornaro being conceal'd under the name of La Bella Laura, but he is not so clear and explanatory upon the subject, as he is upon most occasions.¹

your cannot forget there is a print engrav’d by Hollar in 1650, from a picture of Palma, with the following inscription, vid^t. Ritratto della Regïna Catharina Cornaro, and which print I intend to place in my book untill I can procure a copy of Lord Ossory's Picture, tho perhaps from no better authority than the print.

Thane has been too much busied of late with the care of M^r Blackburn's extensive Catalogue of Prints and drawings, just coming under the hammer, and with his attendance upon Gulston's sale, to have had any leisure for other matters;² nor do I know any thing he has lately publish’d, except a neat Print of the Admiral Seymour, from a miniature of Horace Walpoles, finely copied by Lady Lucan from an original picture ^by Holbein now in the possession of the Marquis of Buckingham Apropos to Gulstone - half his sale is over, and tho’ the trash with which it abounds sells for little, such Lots as have either curiosity or Scarceness to recommend them rise to prices beyond all manner of belief. a paltry print of Pendrel in the oak not worth a shilling sold for £8: 15. 0., Anthony Henley for £8: 10. 0. – Earl of Cumberland £5: 5. 0. Earl of Arundel £ 7: 7. 0 – Humfry LLoyd £5: 14. 0. and a little foolish scratch of Hogarths engrav’d on a snuff box, of which few impressions were taken fetch’d £33: 0. 0. – it was intrinsically worth one penny, and no more.

What Man could be so poor, or so tasteless as to return Moses's most ingenious performances upon his hands?³ Why not bring the book to town, and get it into the first auction of credit, it would probably find its own value, if not, it is only buying it in yourself, and the duty is sacred. I have recommended it to at least a dozen different Amateurs, and have shewn my journey to London as a sample, but proffer’d service – you know what should follow. – Now a word or two as a reason for my not having answer’d your letter sooner, and I will worry you no longer. I return’d to town on account of the arrival of M^r Morice's will from Naples, and since it has been open’d, my whole time has been taken up in different businesses relative thereto, for my family hath a much larger interest therein than we had any reason to expect, indeed his whole property has fallen into our laps, to what extent we are yet to learn, but at all events, it must be very considerable. He has given me an annuity of £500 a year, and to my Daughters⁴ an annuity of £100 per Ann^m. - all the rest of his Estates, real and personal, whatsoever & wheresoever, he has bequeath’d to M^rs Luther for her life, and after her decease to my two Girls in equal proportions, for ever, and I must premise that in the manner we and M^rs Luther have always liv’d together, it is just the same as ^if we had immediate possession. He left Burrell, his Executor, £1000. –

Carter of Westminster has done a drawing for you of the Priory at Dunstable, & I wish to know whether you have any objection to his copying it for my Journey to London, as he won’t do me one without your permission. The creases on the print enclosed, will all come out if you wet the print, all over, and lay it flat in some book that is smooth, and for the future whenever you want paste remember to use Starch instead of flour. I can’t yet find any method of being useful to your son in his travels, but a friend of mine is going, the first week in June, to Lausanne and Geneva, and will take any parcell you wish to send.

I am my dear Sir, always yours, and always
with truth & sincerity, but always in haste

Rich^d: Bull -

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Editorial notes

1. For the misidentification of Catherine Cornaro with Petrarch's Laura, see 1048.
2. Joseph Gulston's collection of prints and portraits was auctioned over a period of 38 nights from 16 January to 13 March 1786. Gentleman's Magazine, LVI, part the second (1786), 622.
3. See 1051.
4. Elizabeth and Catherine Bull.